The Chicago White Sox have a lot of position battles going on in spring training.
Outfield, first base, and the first three starters in the starting rotation are about the only positions the White Sox seem set on.
The White Sox did not spend a ton of money on free agent this offseason to upgrade the roster. Since the franchise is in the early stages of an epic rebuild, it made sense to be practical and prudent in free agency.
This team could have brought in superstar players this offseason and they would have still been projected to lose 90 games.
Plus, building a bullpen with arms off the free-agent scrap heap and overlooked prospects makes more sense. Remember, one reason the contention window shut so quickly early this decade was too much of the limited financial resources went into the bullpen.
That is why there are four young arms in spring training that should not be overlooked to make the Opening Day roster.
Jake Eder
He tumbled out of the White Sox top 30 prospect list with an inconsistent 2024 season at Double-A and Triple-A.
He posted a 5.09 ERA for the Birmingham Barons and a 9.87 ERA when he got promoted to Charlotte. He also pitched in one game last season for the Sox out of the bullpen.
Plus, he is an older prospect since he is 26. While he is inconsistent with his command, watching him pitch for the Barons, he still came across as left-handed pitcher that can be effective out of the bullpen.
He still has does decent stuff, but it might not translate well to facing hitters a second or even third time through the order.
Since the pitching philosophy under Brian Bannister, the team's director of pitching, is to develop a couple of good pitches and throw it a lot, maybe something can be refined in camp with Eder to make him an effective bullpen arm.
Juan Carela
He was impressive once he got promoted to Double-A Birmingham. The Sox 29th-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline posted a 3.58 ERA in seven starts.
He throws strikes as he had 114 K's between High-A ball and Double-A in 2024. Since the White Sox have a ton of starting pitching depth in their system, they should consider using his impressive sweeper and solid four-seam fastball out of the bullpen.
The scouting report even predicts he would be a better reliever than as a starter since he would need to develop a better third pitch than what he is using right now.
Remember, the organization is not opposed to having pitchers make the leap from Double-A to the big leagues, especially since the park Triple-A Charlotte plays in is a bandbox.
Peyton Pallette
The White Sox's former second-round pick in 2022 was dropped as a starting pitching prospect midway through last season.
That is a good thing as he has thrived pitching out of the bullpen ever since.
He posted a 1.80 ERA in eight relief appearances for the Barons and looked good. The Sox bullpen blew 37 saves and the Sox pitching staff as whole blew 56 leads.
They need to use every avenue possible outside of spending big money to improve their reliever group and Pallette might be able to be a long-term piece.
Trey McGough
He was the player the White Sox got back in the Eloy Jimenez trade. It was sort of surprising he never got a callup last season considering he was pitching great in a relief role in the minors.
McGough had a 2.08 ERA for Triple-A Norfolk when he was in the Baltimore Orioles system before getting traded. He did even better in Charlotte with a 1.98 ERA. Posting a sub-2 ERA is impressive since the park the Knights play in is very hitter friendly.
However, he will be 27 at the end of the March, so he might be at the point of just being a very good minor-league pitcher whose stuff does not translate to the big leagues.
Then again, with how bad the White Sox bullpen was last season, it cannot hurt to find out if he can get MLB hitters out like he has been doing in Triple-A.